Feds, again, say Mirasol in Loveland overcharged

City, housing authority officials will continue to fight ruling

By Tom Hacker Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
01/23/2013 05:58:53 PM MST

Senior U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department officials have upheld a regional HUD manager's ruling that Loveland's housing authority overcharged residents of the Mirasol Senior Living Community.

The opinion, in a Jan. 17 letter to Loveland's city attorney, says the city is liable for $332,000 in paybacks to Mirasol residents who for the past five years have been charged a $113 monthly "community fee" in addition to their base rents.

But Loveland's city manager, a City Council member and the director of the housing authority all said Wednesday the ruling does not close the book on the issue, and that the city and housing authority would pursue other avenues.

"I don't think the city and the housing authority are going to sit back and accept this ruling, nor should they," said councilor Joan Shaffer, the Loveland council's liaison to the housing authority board.

'They Want To Pay'

"The reality is that there are people who have lower incomes and are in need of the services Mirasol provides and, individually, they have decided that they want to pay for those additional services."

While the housing authority is a free-standing nonprofit organization, the city remains liable for a potential settlement with residents because it steered federal low-income housing funds to the Mirasol project.

The dispute over the monthly fee, spelled out in an addendum to leases that residents of the 49-unit apartment home sign, has been brewing for three years since a now-deceased Mirasol resident lodged formal objections to the fee.

The housing authority management has defended the extra charge, saying it pays for services that are absent from comparably priced senior living accommodations.

Fee's Broad Acceptance

During a half-day visit to the Mirasol community last spring, most residents told the Reporter-Herald they were aware of the fee, and agreed that the services it provides are worth the expense.

Last week's letter was in response to one sent by City Attorney John Duval and Stan Matsuaka, the housing authority's lawyer, asking HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to review and change a ruling by HUD regional director LeRoy Brown that the fee bumped Mirasol rents above federal affordable housing limits.

"The city will be advised to repay affected Mirasol tenants in an amount estimated at $332,320, which is based on the collection of the $113 fee for the 49 units over a five-year period."

Get Past 'Technocrats'

Housing authority executive director Sam Betters said HUD officials acted without specific knowledge of the Mirasol community, its residents and the services they receive.

"We're dealing with technocrats, and we need to get past them," Betters said.

"If we ever get an opportunity to sit down with the secretary himself, or have this reviewed by an administrative law judge, I think the outcome would be different. We have created a community of very happy elders, who love the place they live, and can afford the place they live."

City Manager Bill Cahill said he regarded the latest HUD message as just another expression of the agency's original ruling, and that the city and housing authority would await further word on how they intend to enforce it.

"We don't know that this ruling will stand," Cahill said.

"It is another notice of the ruling, rather than an order to carry anything out, and there is still some follow-up yet to come. I think we need to consider whether the city wants to take any other appeal route."

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